Disappeared News

Monday, April 25, 2011

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s announced civil action last week against six Hawaii farms has its own back story. Add to it this statement released by Captain Cook Coffee Company.

Perhaps the best thing to do is just to post the statement in its entirety. The text below is OCRd from their statement. The original as received by Disappeared News can be downloaded from here.

Captain Cook Coffee Company, Ltd. response to any and all media inquiries

Captain Cook Coffee Company, Ltd. is disappointed by the EEOC's decision to include Captain Cook as a defendant in its recently filed complaint. Captain Cook cooperated completely in the EEOC's investigation and provided the EEOC with all requested records, allowed the EEOC to inspect its farms, processing facilities, and worker housing, and to interview Captain Cook employees. Captain Cook's housing was in no way inadequate, having been approved by the State of Hawaii, Department of Labor before any Global Horizons workers came to Captain Cook, and the workers were allowed to come and go as they pleased.

Despite repeated requests, the EEOC has refused to identify any act by Captain Cook with respect to Global Horizon employees that was in any way discriminatory, retaliatory or otherwise improper. The EEOC has similarly refused to explain why it believes Captain Cook was aware of any mistreatment of the workers by Global Horizons. The complaint filed this week again offers no factual basis for any of the allegations against Captain Cook.

Captain Cook valued its positive relationship with the Global Horizons employees and provided them with a safe, fair, and respectful working environment. None of the Global Horizons employees reported to Captain Cook that they were being subjected to harassment or retaliation. If the allegations against Global Horizons are eventually proved to be true, then Captain Cook believes appropriate action should be taken to protect and compensate any individuals who were mistreated. We feel confident that when all the facts are known, they will demonstrate that Captain Cook did not mistreat the Global Horizons employees in any way, was unaware of any mistreatment by Global Horizons, and the allegations against Captain Cook will be dismissed. Captain Cook will not comment further on the lawsuit at this time due to the ongoing litigation.